


It's About Time

by anAshcalledYggdrasil



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Magic Revealed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 19:17:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21150851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anAshcalledYggdrasil/pseuds/anAshcalledYggdrasil
Summary: Arthur is fed up of Merlin hiding his secret. He figured it out years ago, but the stubborn prat seems too scared to tell anyone. So Arthur takes matters into his own hands...accidentally.A one-shot quick fic with a short mission, bandits, magic, and a proposal to top it all off.





	1. A Fishy Tale

The day was dragging, as it usually did when King Arthur held open court. It was a weekly occurrence and often held the same issues and faces and squabbles of the townsfolk. He stole my chickens, she sold me a false tincture, he hit me, my children have been kidnapped by the river-creature, the owls are keeping me awake at night, there's a funny smell coming from the stables I haven't mucked out for a month...always the same problems.

Arthur sighed as a couple came up to the throne and bowed, looking distraught. He was emotionally exhausted, and physically itching to run to the training grounds and beat the dummies around a bit to release his pent up frustrations. He squashed the urge and gave the couple in front of him a gentle smile.

"What troubles you today, Master and Mistress Clovelly?"

"It's our daughter, Sire," Mr Clovelly said as his wife's lip trembled. "She's been taken by the river monster."

Arthur didn't doubt their sincerity, he could see their distress clearly etched in every line on their faces, but his knights had searched for this monster for two weeks with no success. This was the fifth set of parents to come to him. "Have you any proof it was the monster?" He asked, trying to keep exhaustion from souring his tone.

"Yes, Sire," Mrs Clovelly said. Arthur sat up straighter. No one else had come forward with proof. The pair beckoned forward two terrified looking children. Arthur smiled warmly at them, and stood up from the throne. He knelt in front of the children, trying his best to look reassuring. The badly-disguised snort from Merlin to the right of the throne suggested he was not succeeding.

"What can you tell me?"

"We....we....we..." stammered the little boy. He was pale, his clothes were patched but clean, and he had obviously been scrubbed clean before his appearance in court.

"Take your time," Arthur said.

The boy took a deep breath and tried again. "We saw a horse in the water."

"She wasn't a horse," piped up the slightly younger child next to him. She was looking fiercely determined as Arthur looked to her. "She was a woman, but with hooves. She looked like a woman when she was on land, but in the water she was a horse with a serpent's tail."

Arthur heard a sharp intake of breath from Merlin, but didn't look round. "You saw...a woman who turned into a horse-serpent creature in the water?" He clarified slowly. The girl nodded. He looked at Gaius, silently asking if there was such a creature, and he received the smallest of nods in return. He turned back to the children, who still looked slightly terrified. "Thank you for telling me, I will try and find your friend as soon -"

"Not our friend. Our sister. Please, your highness, she's my twin sister." The girl's fierce look was crumbling despite her best efforts to maintain a brave face. Arthur's heart shattered. There had been no luck finding this creature before now, and he did not know how he would manage to do so this time.

"I can spare two knights." He announced to the court at large. "They will depart as soon as they are ready." He turned back to the throne, and nodded to two of the knights who were stood behind it. They gave small bows and departed from the hall. He sat down, back straight, the perfect image of a King. "I will find your daughter. I will find all the lost children."

The small family bowed, giving their profuse thanks as tears welled in the eyes of all four of them as they left the hall. The rest of the people in the hall bowed their respect and filed out after them. Only Gaius remained.

"Merlin, fetch me a goblet of wine, please," Arthur's voice betrayed his exhaustion now that he was alone with his servant and Gaius. There was no answering footsteps, and certainly no goblet handed to him. "Merlin!" He was exasperated. No answer. He looked to where Merlin had been standing. There was no one there. A feeling of dread trickled through him, but was overpowered by irritation. "Where has he gone?"

There was a pause as Gaius tried to think of a cover story. "He has gone to fetch me...fresh herbs for poultices, Sire..." it was so feeble a lie that Gaius couldn't even bring himself to look Arthur in the eye.

"He's gone after the creature, hasn't he?"

"It is the most likely conclusion to draw, Sire, yes."

Arthur collapsed against the back of the throne, rubbing his temples. "What can you tell me about this creature, Gaius? Does it pose a threat to Merlin and the children it has taken? Are the children likely to be found?"

Ten minutes later found Arthur sitting at Gaius' table, poring over books on Scottish folklore.

"A Kelpie?"

"I believe so, Sire."

"But we're nowhere near Scotland. Why would there be a Kelpie here?"

"It may have been kidnapped, it may have been sent here by magic, it may have sensed a danger and come to help. They are not naturally vindictive, and it is unusual to hear of them taking children. They usually try to protect children from dangerous waters, from what I've read."

Arthur frowned, gazing down at the image of the Kelpie. It was an odd creature. It was even odder that one should be this far from Scotland and apparently kidnapping children. With a noise of frustration he snapped the book in front of him shut. He wondered what Merlin's plan was; confront the creature? Ask politely for the children back? Use his magic to subdue the creature and take the children back by force? Arthur had known about Merlin's magic for around two years, now. He had put the pieces together (slower than he'd like to admit) and figured it out. Through careful observation of his servant's actions, he had confirmed his suspicions. He had told nobody.

At first he'd been angry, angry enough to have executed Merlin on the spot, if he hadn't been muttering about a particularly stubborn stain on Arthur's armour with a very cute frown on his face the next time Arthur saw him, he would have done it. But his anger had faltered, and he'd watched the man he knew to be so powerful scrub at a stain by hand and mutter obscenities under his breath about how it had gotten there and what he'd like to do to it. So Arthur had turned around and walked away, re-evaluating his decisions. He thought back over their time together, and realised Merlin had only ever used magic for him, or for the kingdom. He'd done a lot of stupid stuff with it, sure, but it had good intentions behind it.

It had taken him two days to consider how he felt, and at the end of it he came to a conclusion. He was in love with Merlin, he'd known this for ages, and the prat was too scared to tell Arthur about his magic while Uther's laws were in effect. He knew he could do nothing to hurt his relationship with Merlin without feeling intensely guilty, so he had let the matter rest, and started putting in motion small changes to the laws. The past year had seen fairer sentences for sorcerers, and little by little, Arthur was legalising magic. He didn't think Merlin had even noticed. He also seemed entirely oblivious to Arthur trying to court him, which had started the same day Arthur resolved not to have him executed.

None of this helped right now, however. Arthur was missing a Merlin, and a small group of children. It wouldn't be hard to find Merlin, and he had only had a twenty minute head start. Arthur made a decision.

"I'm going to track down Merlin and drag him back. We can then go out with reinforcements to find the children. It's not like Merlin knows where to find the Kelpie, anyway. We've searched the section of the river and the lake where people have reported it, and seen nothing."

"Very well, Sire. Should I get someone to saddle your horse?"

"No, I'll do it myself. Thank you, Gaius," he stood up and left, heading down to the stables. He stopped off at the armoury first, and donned chainmail, cloak, and sword. It was a simple mission, no need for heavy armour. When he arrived in the stables, he found the two knights he'd sent out the throne room lying unconscious, but also unharmed, in a pile of fresh hay. He called for help, and once they'd been moved to Gaius' rooms, he got back to his mini-quest.

By the time his horse had been saddled and he was ready to go, Merlin had been gone for an hour. This was still no issue, the idiot didn't know how to cover his tracks. It would be obvious as soon as Arthur was outside the gates which way he had gone. He spurred his horse into a gentle canter, confident in his ability to follow the very obvious trail. Arthur spent the next twenty minutes imagining the argument he would have with Merlin when he found him; Arthur berating him for being so foolish, Merlin feebly trying to defend himself without giving away his secret.

Arthur felt something prickle down his spine. He sat up straighter on his horse where he'd lulled into a false sense of security as she walked. Something was wrong. He could hear footsteps and snapping twigs nearby. Bandits. A hand placed ready on the hilt of his sword, and Arthur nudged his mare into a trot. He could still see the trail without difficulty, but kept a closer eye on his surroundings. He knew he wasn't far now from where the Kelpie was supposedly spotted, so he kept a quick pace. He came to the edge of a clearing where a large lake supplied by a fast-running river was situated. He pulled his mare to a halt, determined to stay out of sight of the two beings he could see at the water's edge. 

One was unmistakably Merlin. His scruffy hair, over-sized ears, and servant's uniform. His horse was tied up at the edge of the forest, not far from where Arthur had stopped. There was someone standing opposite Merlin. A woman...with hooves. She stood at the edge of the lake, naked, water lapping her ankles. Arthur stared. She wasn't what he'd call beautiful, but there was an ethereal allure emanating from her. He couldn't make out what the two were saying to each other. He dismounted as quietly as he could, so as not to alert Merlin to his presence just yet. He tied his horse next to Merlin's, keeping an ear out for the bandits he had hurried away from. Merlin seemed almost in a trance talking to the Kelpie lady, and Arthur didn't want him ambushed. He stood as close to the edge of the trees as he dared, staying hidden.

He heard rustling not too far away, and grunting voices. He drew his sword, ready to defend Merlin and the Kelpie. What he didn't count on, was two group of bandits appearing in different places at the same time. They wore different colours and styles of clothes, denoting them to be separate from each other. Arthur couldn't believe the rotten luck Merlin seemed to have.

Arthur ran at the same time one group made their move. He sprinted the short distance to Merlin, skidded to a stop behind him, yelling a battle-cry. Hesitancy showed in the faces of those at the front of the attack, but they didn't stop. Seconds later they were upon him. Six of them at once, all trying to get a hit in. Arthur was well-trained for this however, and moments later two of them were unconscious on the ground, a third was limping away clutching his hamstrings. Merlin did not seem to have noticed. The second group decided that was the time to attack, and came running from a different direction. Arthur could only thank God that Merlin was facing the water, limiting the directions from which bandits could advance.

He was fighting twelve people at once. It was never destined to work in his favour, though he fought as hard as he could. Four men went down under his sword, and the remaining eight backed away a few feet to consider the best plan of attack. He prayed they'd do one at a time; he could feel his arms fatiguing, sweat dripping down his face. His prayer was not answered. All eight came forward at once, and despite his best evasive manoeuvring, Arthur received a blow to the head. He fell against Merlin, semi-conscious. Arms that didn't look like they should contain the strength they did caught him, and lowered him gently to the ground. Merlin was finally out of his trance, and the Kelpie had vanished.

Arthur was still aware of what was happening around him, though Merlin thought he was entirely unconscious. He therefore did not hold back. Arthur heard bandits laughing as Merlin pushed up his sleeves. A phrase rolled off his tongue, a phrase of such power a shiver went through Arthur and the very ground seemed to shake. Four of the eight men were flung backwards. They hit trees, where Arthur distinctly heard some cracks, and then fell to the ground, dead or knocked out Arthur couldn't say. The last four men looked terrified. One of them turned tail and ran, but Merlin shouted a word and he was lifted high into the air. His scream was piercing then suddenly silent as he was thrown over the tree tops. Arthur did not see nor hear where he landed.

Merlin turned his attention to the three men left in front of him. Arthur could not see his face from where he was lying, but he imagined it to be terrifying. They all attacked at once, but three sharp words from Merlin in that peculiar language stopped them short. They rebounded off an invisible wall and were frozen mid-air . All together, they were thrown back towards the trees with a casual gesture from Merlin. They did not get up again while Arthur and Merlin were by the lakeside.

Merlin dropped to his knees beside Arthur and checked his pulse. Apparently satisfied his King was ok, he lifted him with apparent ease, and carried him over to the horses. Arthur felt himself being tied to the saddle with gentle hands. He could barely open his eyes. His eyelids fluttered and he lifted his head the tiniest amount from where it rested against his mare's neck.

"Thank you, Merlin," he mumbled, struggling to support his pounding head. The hands currently on his thighs froze. Merlin had definitely not realised Arthur was still conscious. "Merlin it's...." but exactly what it was, Merlin would not find out, because Arthur chose that moment to vomit over the other side of the horse. Merlin disappeared for a few moments, and came back with a flask of water.

"Drink this." He sounded stressed. Arthur couldn't blame him, but also couldn't get any more words out. He did not dare open his mouth for fear of further vomiting. He accepted the water, and Merlin disappeared again. It was five minutes this time before Merlin was back at his side. He had mounted up, and took Arthur's reins in his hands. He started heading back towards Camelot, stiff in the saddle and determinedly not looking at Arthur.

Arthur tried to think of what he could say to ease Merlin's worry, but there was nothing. His head was still aching, his mind was all foggy. It took him 15 minutes of the journey to realise they were being followed by five children on horses much to big for them. He wondered where they had come from...and how Merlin had managed to find all five children quite so easily.

"The horses came from the bandits," Merlin said when he noticed Arthur staring at them. "The children were being protected by the Kelpie. The river was too strong, they'd all fallen in staring at some of the fish." It was all he said for the remainder of the trek back to the castle. Arthur remembered very little of it all, as he faded in and out of consciousness. He barely registered when they passed through the gates, until he was being untied and pulled off the horse. He suddenly realised people were shouting around him.

"'m fine, honestly." He tried to mumble out. "The children, see to the childr-" he fainted before he finished his sentence.

When he woke, he was lying in a warm, soft bed. He came to slowly, putting a hand to his throbbing head. He forced his eyes open, blinking in the late afternoon sun streaming through his windows. He saw Gaius packing away medicines into his bag, a tenseness he had never seen in the old man before evident in every movement. Anxiety seemed to radiate out from him. Arthur knew immediately what it was about.

"Gaius," the physician started, apparently unaware Arthur had regained consciousness.

"Sire! How are you feeling? Merlin said you were attacked by bandits."

"He's right, and I wouldn't have survived without his magic," he said it carefully, watching the man's reaction. Of course he knew Merlin had magic, how could he not? It seemed impossible, but Gaius got more tense. He was practically shaking with fear for Merlin. 

"Sire, I -"

"It's fine, Gaius, I'm not going to have Merlin executed. I've known for two years, I've just been waiting for him to tell me. But don't tell him, I want to let him know myself. It's about time we discussed it," he grinned, and Gaius relaxed visibly.

"Thank you, Sire. I cannot tell you how grateful I am."

Arthur waved the thanks aside and sat up gingerly. "Gaius, in the drawer next to you, you'll find a small black box. Please hand it to me."

Gaius opened the drawer and handed the box to Arthur, staring curiously at it as he did so.

"I am not going to execute the prat, I am going to marry him, if he'll have me."


	2. The Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin gets the shock of his life when Arthur bursts into the throne room in an apparent rage.

Merlin was in the throne room, where he had most space. He had Arthur's armour, boots, and cloak laid out across the table. He stood beside it, identifying patches that needed fixing and sections that needed extra polishing. He sighed, thinking back to what had just happened in the woods. He knew Arthur had seen him using magic. He hadn't been knocked fully unconscious and even now he was probably figuring out the best way to cover up Merlin's execution. It wouldn't do to have a sorcerer this close to the King, after all. A deep sadness was settling over Merlin as he considered the best way to escape. He knew his time was limited, but Arthur would take longer than the afternoon to decide, he was sure.

Merlin picked up the boots from the table and examined them. The soles were falling off, and there were patches where they had been repaired before by someone else. Merlin muttered a spell and the stitching started repairing itself. If Arthur already knew he had magic, there was no point mending by hand. Might as well make the most of it.

The doors to the throne room banged open, and Arthur stormed in, a bandage still wrapped around his head. Merlin whipped round, panic in his golden irises. Surely he hadn't decided already? Arthur never made big decisions quickly! Gwen and Lance appeared, skidding to a halt and looking frantic behind Arthur.

"I have one thing to say to you!" Arthur bellowed, striding up the length of the hall. Merlin dropped the boots he was still holding, backing away until he reached the throne. It hit the back of his knees and he fell into the seat. 

"Arthur!" Came Gwen's terrified voice from the doorway. Arthur ignored her. He reached towards his sword, still hanging at his hip. Gaius appeared in the doorway, much calmer looking than the others. If he'd had time to look carefully, Merlin would have seen a smile tugging at the old physician's mouth. Merlin screwed his eyes shut, dreading what was about to come. He couldn't use magic on the man he loved. He couldn't use magic on the King. His heart ached, feeling as if it was about to break. 

"Arthur don't!" There was Lancelot, standing up for Merlin until the end. "He'd never hurt you!" The pleading note in the knight's voice shattered Merlin's heart. 

He waited. One...two...three...four...five...the seconds dragged on, and there was a shocked silence in the throne room. No one was objecting any further, no one was trying to stop the blow Merlin was sure was coming. He gingerly opened one eye, then the other when he saw the scene in front of him. Arthur was on one knee, a small black box in his hands, the hint of a smile on his face, late afternoon sun streaming through a high window directly onto his golden hair. 

"Will you marry me?"

Merlin stared at the King. Stared at the gleaming gold ring in the box. It was a simple band, intricately engraved with runic patterns and knots. He felt enchanted by it, but a quick spell (eyes closed so Arthur wouldn't know) told him it was just high quality and not magical. He opened his eyes and glanced at Gwen and Lance, who looked delighted. 

"What?" Was all he could stammer.

"I feel like I was pretty clear the first time, Merlin. Will you marry me?"

"You're not...you're not upset? Or angry? Or going to run me through with your sword?"

"I considered it when I first learned about your magic, about two years ago. Then I thought about how I would feel if you were burned at the stake or hanged. Then I realised that you've never done anything but protect me. And I realised how much I love you, and how I'd never forgive myself if I sentenced you to death. So one more time, and please don't make me say it again; will you marry me, Merlin?"

"Two years?!" Merlin yelped. "You didn't say anything!" His tone was accusing, but an enormous weight seemed to have lifted from his chest. "And surely the proper procedure involved courting me?" Arthur gave a gentle smile.

"I was waiting for you to tell me, but it seemed more and more unlikely you were going to. I made my peace with it, and knew the way forward was just to embrace it. Also, I've _been_ courting you for two years, you're just so dim you haven't noticed. So for one final time, _Mer_lin, will you marry me?"

A smile crept slowly across the sorcerer's face, tears brimming in his eyes. "Yes, Arthur, I will marry you."

Cheers erupted from their two friends still stood in the doorway as Arthur slid the ring onto Merlin's left hand, and together they stood up. Gaius did not cheer, but he did look extremely satisfied with the turn of events. Arthur placed a gentle hand on Merlin's cheek, and kissed him. Merlin had never been happier, and felt the weight of the world lift from his shoulders.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written and edited in like two days, don't judge too harshly lol


End file.
